Philly students, families voice concerns over plan to close schools

PHILADELPHIA - Hundreds of students, parents and community members packed a town hall at the School District of Philadelphia headquarters Thursday to weigh in on the district’s proposed $2.8 billion school facilities plan, which includes closing several schools.

The plan would repurpose and modernize 159 schools to address aging buildings and declining enrollment. Eighteen schools remain on the proposed closure list, down from an initial 20 after Motivation High School and Conwell Middle School were removed.

Students, families push back on school closures

What they're saying:

Many attendees spoke out against the proposed closures, urging district leaders to keep their schools open.

"I’m here to keep Harding open as you can see by the shirts," said Arianna DeJesus, an 8th grader at Warren G. Harding Middle School. "Because they are trying to shut down our school, and we do not agree with it."

Other Harding students questioned whether the school could handle more students if it were consolidated.

"If we don't have enough room for more students, why are they trying to make it a bigger school than what it already is?" Alex Lodge, another 8th grader, added. 

Jenny Peru, another Harding student, said younger students should remain separated from older grades.

"They should keep the little kids separate from middle schoolers just how the middle schoolers are separated from the high schoolers," she said.

Students from Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School also spoke in support of their school.

"Our school is just such a monumental piece of Philadelphia and closing it would be detrimental to how we learn and what we learn," 10th grader Morgan Thomas said. 

Her classmate, Makai Robinson Jamison, said the school feels like a second home.

"I feel like we said what we had to say. There really is not a reason to shut down our school. We are in a great environment, we are safe, and it is like a second home to me," he said.

Hundreds of people signed up to speak during the meeting, with several students drawing applause from the crowd.

"Do you know how it feels to raise your hand and a teacher ignores you? That is what this facility plan feels like to the students at risk," one student said.

Another student, Charlotte Richardson, urged the board to reject the proposal.

"You can vote no. We do not need or want this. You are allowed to vote no," she said.

School board member Wanda Novales addressed the crowd and emphasized that the plan was submitted for the board’s review.

"There are many of the same questions that I am asking myself," Novales said. "And just for clarity, this is not the board’s plan. This is a plan that has been submitted to us for us to evaluate and vote on."

What's next:

Board members have not announced when they will vote on the plan.